Mail-bag catcher and deliverer.



No. 783,723. PATENTED FEB. 28, 1905. B. E. HANDMAN & G. B. ELLIS.

MAIL BAG GATCHBR AND DELIVERER.

APPLIGATION FILED 1330.30, 1904.

2 SHBETB-SHEET 1.

No. 783,723. PATENTED FEB. 28, 1905.

. E. E. HANDMAN & G. B. ELLIS.

MAIL BAG GATGHER AND DELIVERER.

APPLICATION FILED 1130.30, 1904.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

Nifnessss Patented February 28, 1905.

ATEWT ll ltllfid.

ELMtHtE ELLSWOR'III lrlANDMAN AN 1) GAYLE 'BOURNE ELLIS, OF CINOIN NATL OHIO.

IVIAIL BAG GATCMIEFK AND DELlVlEl ilEl 'l.

SPECIFICATION formingpart of Letters Patent No. 783,723, dated February 28, 1905. Application filed Dflcfi lw 30, 1904. Serial. No. 233,993

In all 1071,0111, it may concern.-

Be it known that we, ELMoRn ELLswon'rn HANDMAN and GAYLE BoUnNE ELms, citizens of the United States of America, and residents of Cincinnati, in the county of Hamilton and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in lVIail-Bag Catchers and Deliverers, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to certain improvements in devices such as are especially designed and adapted for use in connection with railway mail-cars for receiving and delivering mail bags or pouches at the various stations along the railways; and the object of the invention is to provide a device of this character of a simple and inexpensive nature and ot' a compact and durable construction which shall be capable of etlective operation for the receipt and discharge of the mail bags or pouches without liability of derangement or oi. damage to the pouches or their contents.

The invention consists in certain novel features of the construction, combination, and arrangement of the several parts of the improved mail-pouch receiving and delivering mechanism whereby certain important advantages are attained, and the mechanism is made simpler, cheaper, and otherwise better adapted and more convenient for use than various other similar devices heretofore em ployed. all as will be hereinafter fully set forth.

The novel features of the invention will be carefully defined in the claims.

in the accompanyingdrawings, which serve to illustrate our invention, Figure l is a broken side elevation showing a mail-car provided with the improved pouch receiving and discharging mechanism and resting upon a section of the track, carrying certain elements of said mechanism, as will be hereinafter explained, certain portions of the car and track being broken away to show details oi the invention. Fig. 2 is a transverse section taken vertically through the mail-car at the end of the pouch receiving and discharging mechanism and showing the several parts of said mechanism which are carried by the car in end elevation, the un-tionsol the mechanism located at the'track beingseen in trans' verse section. Fig. 3 a longitudinal section taken vertically through one end portion of the pouch-receptacle adapted For location at the track. Fig. t is a broken plan view showing one end portion of the track-receptacle for the pouches in position between the track-rails oi the railway-line. Fig. 5 is a broken sectional detail View showing the resilient cushioning means located in the ponchreceptacle of the car for overcoming the impact of the pouch.

In the views, 1 indicates the body of the mail-car having afloor 2 and supported upon wheels 3 3, running upon the track rails 4 t of the railway-line in the ordinary way, and 5 indicates a trap-door produced in the car-floor 2 at about the center of the length of the car-body and affording cmnmunication with a pouch-chamber produced within a casing 6, extending beneath the central portion of the car, as shown in Figs. 1 and E2. The casing 6 nniy be constructed from sheet metal or other material and may be attached to the sills or floor-timbers or may be built in as an integral part of the structure ol the car. The opposite end portions 7 7 ol the casing e have interior chambers which have pouch-recs;itacles and are provided with bottoms ta, which are downwardly inclined from the ends oi the pouch-chamber within the central portion oi the casing 6, so that the extremities 01 said casing within which the pouchreceptacles are produced are caused to depend adjacent to the casing through its open lower end portion into the said pouch-receptaclelocated between the track-rails.

In connection with the casing (3 and its, pouch-receptacles and the receptacle between the track-rails 4: we provide means for elebetween the track-rails said devices will be automatically actuated to elevate the mailpouch lying in the track-receptacle into the forward pouch-receptacle of the car and at substantially the same time to discharge a pouch from the rearmost receptacle on the car into said receptacle or channel between the track-rails.

Should a car provided with our improvements be turned about and run in the reverse direction, it is evident that the operation of the devices will be unimpaired; but since mailcars are not commonly turned it is evident that certain of the parts of the improved pouch receiving and discharging mechanism will be required to be transposed from one end of the device to the other when the car is reversely moved along the railway-line.

At the open lower portions of the respective forward and rear pouch-receptacles on the car are arranged doors or valves 10 and 11 of similar form, but reversely arranged and pivoted at 12 to the lower parts of the inclined bottoms 8 of the pouch-receptacles, said doors 10 and 11 being adapted when raised, as indicated at the left-hand side of Fig. 1, to close the bottoms of the pouch-receptacles, but being designed when lowered, as shown at the right-hand sideof Fig- 1, to form substantial continuations or extensions of the inclined bottoms of the pouch-receptacles and having at opposite. sides upturned flanges which are lapped over upon the outer sides of the respective walls,as clearly shown in Figs. 1 and 2.

13 13 indicate links atopposite sides of the respective forward and rear downwardly-extended portions 1 T of the casing beneath the car, the oppositely-arranged links at each end portion of the casing having their, lower extremities pivotally connected with the upturned flanges of the corresponding hinged doors 10 and 11 and having their upper ends connected with bell-crank or elbow levers 14, which are pivoted on the opposite walls of the extensions 7 and have guiding means 15, comprising headed pins carried on the walls of the portions 7 and engaged in slots of the elbow-levers, which are curved concentrically with the pivotal points of said levers.

Each bell-crank or elbow lever 1& has connection at the opposite side of its pivotal point with a link 16, the opposite end of which has pivotal connection with one end of anotherv bellcrank or elbow lever 17, held for pivotal movement on the adjacent wall of the corresponding end portion 7 of the casing and provided with a guiding means 15 similar to the guiding means for the bell-crank levers 1-1, above referred to, and each bell-crank or elbow lever 17 has a horizontally-extended arm provided with an adjustable counterweight 22 and having pivotal connection, as shown at 18, with a sq uare-sectioned plunger rod or stem held for vertical movement below the bellcrank lever 17 in guides or bearings 19 19 upon the side wall of the casing extension 7 and provided with a spring 20, the tension of which is exerted on a collar on said rod or stem in such a way as to hold the stem or rod normally pressed down elastically toward the roadbed.

The arrangement of these devices above described is such that at each end portion 7 of the casing on the car there are provided two of the elastically-depressed rods or stems, which are opposite each other, as seen in Fig. 2, and on the lower ends of said rods or stems are provided forks between which are held to turn truck wheels or rollers 21, which are adapted in the movement of the car in passing mail-stations along the line of the railway to contact with and run along cam projections or auxiliary tracks 23, which are rested upon the ties between the track-rails at at such stations and have opposite downwardly-inclined end portions 2L 24, up and down which said truck wheels or rollers 21 are adapted to move, the inclined end portions 24 of said cam projections 23 having their lower ends beneath the plane of the wheels or rollers 21 when the rods or stems on which said wheels or rollers are carried are depressed to their fullest extent, so that in the movement of the car to which our improvements are applied the wheels or rollers 21 are caused to come in contact with the upwardly-inclined ends of the cam projections when the car reaches each mail-station. On contact of the wheels or rollers 21 upon the upwardly-inclined ends 24 of the cam projections at each mail-station said wheels or rollers 21 are caused to move upwardly, whereby the spring-actuated rods or stems on which the wheels or rollers are carried arecaused to be moved upwardly against the tension of their springs 20. so as to elevate the counterweighted arm of each bell-crank or elbow lever 17, whereby by reason of the link con nections between the elbow-levers and the hinged doors 10 and 11 said elbow-levers and doors will be moved pivotally, the doors 10 and 11 by reason of their reverse pivotal arrangement dropping down, so that the forward door 10 forms an inclined extension in advance of the forwardly and downwardly inclined bottom 8 of the forward or receiving pouch-receptacle on the car, while the rear door 11 forms a rearwardly and downwardly inclined extension of the correspondingly inclined bottom 8 of the rear or discharging pouch-receptacle of the car.

Between the cam projections or auxiliary tracks 23 at each mail-station is produced an elongated pouch receptacle or channel 25, which is, as shown in the drawings, sunk in the road-bed and may have its lower part, as seen in Fig. 2, received in hollows cut in the central portions of the ties. The stationary or track receptacle 25 has a length slightly in excess of the length of the cam projections and is provided with vertical side walls and has a bottom 26, which may be formed from metal with longitudinal corrugations. as indicatedin Fig. 2,.such corrugations serving to drain the water which may collect in said track-receptacle toward a drain-opening 27 (shown in Figs. 1,

and 4) and also serving to support the pouches so that their contents will not be damaged by such water as may accumulate in the receptacle. At opposite ends the vertical side walls of each track-receptacle 25 are also provided with down\vardly-inclined cams or guides 28, which are adapted for engagement with the edges of the doors 10 and 11 for elevating said doors into closed position, so as to insure that the doors shall not strike upon the end walls of the track-receptacles or upon other obstructions and be damaged thereby.

30 indicates a hinged door arranged at the point of communication between the pouchchamber in the central part of casing 6 beneath the trap-door 5 and the rearward downwardly-inclined or discharging pouch-receptacle in the rear extension 7' of the casing, and said door is provided with an elastic buffer or press plate 31, which is adapted when the door 30 is closed, as shown in Fig. 1, to elastically press upon the upper end of a pouch :11, held in said rear or discharge receptacle in such a way that when the lower hinged door 11 at the base of said discharge-receptacle is opened said pouch w will be automatically discharged from said receptacle, sliding down the inclined extension produced by the door 11 when lowered and being deposited in the stationary track receptacle between the track-rails. The hinged door 30 will be preferably removable, so that when the car is reversely moved along the railway and the for ard receptacle becomes the discharge-receptacle said door may be attached at the opposite end of pouch-chamber in casing 6 to properly press upon the pouches within said opposite receptacle.

in the operation of the improved pouch receivingand discharge mechanism as the car moves along the railway-line and approaches a mail-station the rollers or wheels 21 at opposite sides of the forward or receivii'lg pouchreceptacle on the car will contact and ride up on the rearmost InCllHOS 24 of the cam projections 23, so that the bell-crank leversat opposite sides of the receiving-receptacle on the car will be actuated to drop the forward door 10 so that the same may traverse the bottom of the stationary track-receptacle 25, whereby a mail-pouch which had previously been deposited in said stationary receptacle will be caused to traverse the inclined sur faces of said door 10 and of the bottom 8 of the receiving-receptacle on the car and will enter said receiving-receptacle in the direction indicated by the arrow 7) in Fig. 5, there being preferably some means provided for cushioning the entering mail-pouch in so that the impact thereof may be lessened to prevent said pouch from passing forcibly into the pouch-chamber beneath the trapdoor In Fig. 5 such a cushioning means is shown,

consisting of leaf-springs 29, held upon frames 30, removably secured at opposite sides of the receivingreceptacle, with free ends for contact with the entering pouch to cushion the impact thereof and prevent damage to the car or to the contents of the pouch. The frames 30* being removable may be removed from one receptacle and placed in the other when the car is reversely run along the railway. After the pouch X which was in the track-receptacle before the arrival of the train shall have been received into the forward reccptacle on the car the forward rollers 21 will on reaching the downwardly-inclined forward end portion 2a of the cam projections 23 be again permitted to fall by the tension of springs 19 upon the rods or stems whereon they are carried, and when this occurs the counterweights 22 and springs 19 at opposite sides of the forward casing extension 7 are permitted to act to positively depress said rollers and to raise the forward door 10 into closed position, the engagement of opposite sides of said door upon the cams or guides 28 at the forward end of the stationary trackreceptacle 25 serving to insure the closing of said door sul'liciently soon to prevent damage thereto by contact on the end of the track-receptacle or other obstruction along the roadbed. As in the movement ofthe car past the mail-station the wheels or rollers 21 at opposite sides of the rearmost or discharge pouchreceptacle roll up on the rearmost inclines 2st .of the cam projections at opposite sides of the stationary receptacle 25, the elbow-levers with which the rods or stems of said wheels or rollers are connected will be rocked and the movement thereof will be imparted by the link connections 13 to the rearn'lost door 11, which will be lowered into engagement with the bottom of the stationary receptacle 25, permitting the press-plate 31 to act by the tension of its spring to discharge the pouch w from said receptacle, said pouch sliding down over the inclined door 11 and being deposited in the receptacle which, as above stated,

is sunk below the road-bed and is adapted to hold the pouch out of position in which it might be engaged by parts of the runninggear of trains, and thereby damaged. The trap-door 5 permits ready access to the pouchchamber beneath it, so that the pouches to be delivered at stations may be conveniently placed in the discharge-receptacle on the raising of said trap-door, and since the received pouches are delivered up the inclined bottom of the receiving-receptacle into said pouchchamber it is evident that the trap-door may be closed except at such times as it is necessarily raised for the removal of pouches from said chamber or the placing of other pouches in the discharge-receptacle, so that free use of the entire floor-space of the car is permitted at all other times. From the above description of ourimprovements it will be apparent that the improved pouch receiving and discharging mechanism is of an extremely simple and inexpensive nature and is especially Well adapted for use, since it is adapted for substantially automatic operation and requires no particular care or skill on the part of the mail-clerks, and thereby altogether avoids the accidental destruction of mail-matter. The device is also specially adapted for the mail-service by reason of the fact that it dispenses with such care and attention as is required by the clerks for the operation of similar devices. so that a considerable saving in time is effected Without impairment of the service in other directions.

It will also be obvious from the above clescription that the improved pouch receiving and discharging mechanism is capable of some modification without material departure from the principles and spirit of the invention, and for this reason we do not desire to be understood as limiting ourselves to the precise form and arrangement of the several parts of the device herein set forth in carrying out our invention in practice. For instance, it will be obvious that in the most convenient use and operation of our device it will be best and it is preferred that a rectangular case or box be provided for containing the various pouches, sacks, or bags, such pouches, sacks, or bags in general use being of various irregular shapes and sizes and partly or wholly filled, that it might otherwise be impracticable to handle them to and from the moving trains. Therefore the pouches a and r0, here-inbefore mentioned, may be considered as incased or boxed ones to avoid accidental catching in the parts and exposure to damage and also to present a suitable surface for the spring devices to act upon and in contact with.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patcut, is

1. A mail-car having a pouch receiving and discharging means depending beneath the car and adapted for cooperation with reciprocal devices located between the track-rails.

2. A pouch'receiving'and discharging mechanism for railway mail-service comprising a receiving and delivering means located between the trach-rails of a railway-line and adapted for cooperation with reciprocal devices carried upon the under side of a mail-car.

3. In an apparatus of the character described, the combination of a car, a pouch-receiving means pendent therefrom, a pouch-delivering means at the level of the road-bed,

cam projections along the road-bed and mechanism carried by the car for engagement with said cam projections and controlling the operation of the pouch-receiving means.

4:. In an apparatus of the character described, the combination of a car, a pouchdischarging means pendent therefrom, a pouch-receiving means at the level of the roadbed, a cam projection at the road-bed and mechanism carried by the car for engagement with said cam projection and controlling the operation of the pouch-discharging means.

5. In an apparatus of the character described, the combination of a car, a receptacle carried thereby, and having a discharge-opening, a resilient pouch-discharging means, a device for engagement with the pouch to hold the same in the receptacle and means for releasing said pouch-holding device.

6. In an apparatus of the character described, the combination of a car, a dischargereceptacle carried thereby and having a discharge-opening, a resilient pouch-discharging means, a device for engagement with the pouch to hold the same in the receptacle and means actuated on contact with a cam projection along the railway-track for releasing said pouch-holding device. 7

7. In an apparatus of the character described, the combination of a car, a receptacle carried thereby and having a discharge-opening, a pouch-discharging means, a part mount.- ed at'the discharge-opening of the receptacle to hold the pouch therein and means for releasing said pouch-holding part.

8. In an apparatus of the character described, the combination of a car, a receptacle carried thereby and having a discharge-opening, a pouch-discharging means, a part at the discharge-opening of the'receptacle to hold the pouch therein, counterweighted mechanism for holding said part in operative position and means for moving said part out of operative position.

9. In an apparatus of the character described, the combination of a car, a receptacle carried thereby and having adischarge-opening, a pouch-discharging means, a part at the discharge-opening of the receptacle to hold the pouch therein, and lever mechanism operatively connected with said part to hold the same in operative position and capable of actuation to release said part to permit the pouch to be discharged.

10. In an apparatus of the character deweaves scribed, the combination of a car, a receptacle carried thereby and having a discharge-opening, apoucl1-discl1arging means, a part at the discharge-opening to hold the pouch in the receptacle, means to hold said part in operative position and mechanism engageable by a cam projection along the track and having operati ve connection with said part to move the same out of operation.

11. In an apparatus of the character described, the combination oi a car, a receptacle carried thereby and having a discharge-opening, a pouch-discharging means, a part at the discharge-opening to hold the pouch in the receptacle, lever mechanism for actuating said part and a cam projection along the track and engageable with said lever mechanism for moving said part out of operative position.

12. In an apparatus of the character described, the combination of a car, a receptacle carried thereby and having a discharge-opening, a pouch-discharging means, a part at the discharge-opening to hold the pouch in the receptacle, lever mechanism operatively connected with said part and compri sing a counterweighted arm and a spring-actuated rod, a roller on said rod and a cam projection along the track for engagement with said roller to actuate said part to release the pouch.

13. In an apparatus of the character described, the combination of a car, a receptacle carried thereby and having a discharge-opening, a pouch-discharging means, a pivoted door at the discharge-opening and adapted, when closed to hold the pouch therein and when opened to stand in adownwardly-inclined position beneath the discharge-opening of said receptacle, lever mechanism connected with said door and comprising spring-actuated rods provided with rollers, a stationary pouch-receptacle between the track-rails, and cam projections along the sides of said stationary receptacle for engagement with the rollers of said spring-actuated rods for moving said door into opened position.

14:. In an apparatus of the character described, the combination of a car, a receptacle carried thereby and having an opening, a part movable at said opening and adapted, when moved, to stand in a downwardly-inclined position, mechanism for moving said part and a pouch-delivering means at the road-be .l and .adapted For engagement with said part when moved into its inclined position.

'15. In an apparatus of the character described, the combination of a car, a receptacle carried thereby and having an opening, a part movable at said opening and adapted, when moved, to stand in a downwardly-inclined position, mechanism for moving said part and comprising a spring-actuated rod carrying a roller, a cam projection at the road-bed level for engagement with said roller to move said part into inclined position and a pouch-de livering means at the road-bed and adapted for engagement with said part when moved into inclined position.

1,6. In an apparatus of the character described, the combination of a car, a receptacle carried thereby and having an opening, a door pivoted at the opening and adapted when moved to stand in a downwardly-inclined position and a pouch-delivrwi ng means at the roadbed and engageable with said door when in inclined position.

17. In an ap 'iaratus of the character described, the combination of a car, a receptacle carried thereby and having an opening, a door pivoted. at said opening, lever mechanism for moving said door into a downwardly-inclined position, and a pouch-delivering means at the road-bed for engagement with said door when in inclined position.

18. In an ap iaratus oi the character described, the combination of acar, a receptacle carried thereby and having an opening, a door pivoted at said opening, mechanism for moving said door into a down wardly-inclined position, a cushioning means within the receptacle and a pouch-dc]ivering means at the road-bed For engi-igement with said door when in inclined position.

19. In an apparatus ol the character described, the combination of a car, a receptacle carried thereby and having an opening, a door pivoted at said open ing, mechanism for moving said door into downwardly-inclined position and comprising lever mechanism and springpressed rods carrying rollers, a pouclrreceptacle between the tracks and wherein said door is adapted to descend when in inclined position and cam projections along opposite sides of last-named pouch-receptacle and engageable with said rollers to actuate said door.

20. In an apparatus of the character described, the combination 01 a car, a receptacle carried thereby and having an opening, a door. pivoted at said opening, mechanism for mov ing said door into downwardly-inclined position, a pouch-receptacle between the tracks and in which the door descends when lowered and cams at the end of said last named pouchreceptacle and engageable with said door to elevate the same,

21. in an apparatus ol the clntracter described, the coinbiliation oi a car, a receptach-i carried thereby and having an opening, adoor pivoted at said opening, mechanism eomprising Mall-crank levers having link connections with each other and with said doorior moving the same, one lever having a connterweighted arm, a rod connected with said counterweighted arm and having an actuating-spring and provided. with a roller and cam projections along the track for enagagemcnt with said roller to move said door.

22. In an apparatus of the character described, the combination of the track-rails, devices carried by the car, and a pouch-rcceptacle located between the track-rails.

scribed, the combination of a car having a trap-door 1n its floor, a casing below the car- -floor and provided with a pouch-chamber below said trap-door and with oppositely-inclined pouch-receptacles at opposite ends of said chamber, and interchangeable devices located at the respective pouch-receptacles.

Signed at Cincinnati, Ohio, this 24th day of December, 1904.

ELMORE ELLSWORTH HANDMAN. GAYLE BOURNE ELLIS. \Vitnesses:

JOHN ELIAS JONES, WILLIAM SoHUoHARDT. 

